The article in The Scientist titled “COVID-19 Vaccine Combos Aim to Boost Immunity” discusses the plans to test combinations of different vaccine modalities to boost immunity to SARS-CoV-2, an approach similar to the one being advanced by WHV for prevention of HIV infection.
Over the past year, multiple vaccines have been approved for use around the world utilizing very different platforms, including mRNA, adenoviral vectors, recombinant proteins, and whole killed vaccines. The limited supply of these vaccines is driving discussions on whether different vaccine platforms can be mix-and-matched for both practical and scientific reasons. WHV’s advisor, Dr. Shan Lu has been working on such an approach for many years and is quoted multiple times in the article discussing his experience and the future prospects for such an approach.
Specifically, Dr. Lu points out in the article: “The order matters,” says Lu. “We found that DNA first, protein after is better than protein first, DNA after. You cannot reverse that.”, referring to the work that his laboratory conducted over the past 20 years. These discoveries lie at the heart of WHV’s approach of using DNA priming and recombinant protein boosting to stimulate very robust antibody responses to HIV’s gp120 protein.
Coronavirus vaccine research is taking advantage of the multiple discoveries made in the HIV vaccine field, allowing it to accelerate discovery and development of preventive vaccines.
